Themes > Arts > Painting > Religious Painting > Icon Painting > Historical Introduction

The word "icon" derives from the Greek "eikon" and means an image, any image or representation, but "in the more restricted sense in which it is generally understood, it means a holy image to which special veneration is given" (Weitzmann 1978, 7). Even though the word "icon" applies to all kinds of religious images -- those painted on wooden panels (icons proper), on walls (frescoes), those fashioned from small glass tesserae (mosaics) or carved in stone, metal or ivory -- we associate it most often with paintings on wood.

by Alexander Boguslawski Information provided by: http://www.rollins.edu